Characteristics and medical-care-seeking of head and neck cancer patients: A population-based cross-sectional survey

Väisänen, Janne; Syrjälä, Anna-Maija; Pesonen, Paula; Pukkila, Matti; Koivunen, Petri; Alho, Olli‐Pekka

doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2014.04.009

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It seems that currently available pain medications adequately relieve pain, thus patients do not suspect cancer. Contrary to our findings, V€ ais€ anen et al [23] found that patients experiencing pain reported shorter patient delay.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, it appears that a lump on the neck presenting as a palpable tumor mass in a visible location is a symptom that raises patient awareness of potentially malignant disease, a conclusion supported by other studies [6,26]. Similarly, the presence of lymphatic metastases (N þ class) correlated significantly with shorter median patient delay (28 vs. 57 d) and total delay before referral to ENT Department (TD) (48 vs. 116 d) [23]. Avoiding disease progression due to delays is of utmost importance to improving the possibility for prompt curative treatment for locally advanced disease [20].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…In addition, tumor site, the presence of symptoms and the heterogeneity and duration of symptoms before seeking medical care all influence delays [19][20][21]. Thus, patients with mild symptoms or no perception of malignancy may seek medical attention later and may present with advanced disease [22,23]. Investigating the underlying causes for delay provides a possibility to discover means to shorten these delays.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Causes for delay before specialist consultation in head and neck cancer

et al. 2018

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Causes for delay before specialist consultation in head and neck cancer

et al. 2018

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“…The clinicopathological and demographic findings of these patients were consistent with those of most of the studies on HNC, where patients are usually men in the sixth or seventh decades of life and are diagnosed in advanced clinical stages (26,27). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Calcified carotid artery atheromas on panoramic radiographs of head and neck cancer patients before and after radiotherapy

Markman

Kg²,

Brandão³

et al. 2017

Med Oral

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BackgroundThe aims of this study were to verify if head and neck radiotherapy (RT) is able to induce calcified carotid artery atheroma (CCAA) in a large head and neck cancer (HNC) population and also to compare the socio-demographic and clinical findings of patients with and without CCAA detected on panoramic radiographs.Material and MethodsPanoramic radiographs taken before and after head and neck radiotherapy (RT) of 180 HNC patients were selected and analyzed in order to identify the presence of CCAA. In addition, CCAA presence or absence on panoramic radiographs were compared and correlated with clinicopathological findings.ResultsA high overall prevalence of CCAA was found on panoramic radiographs (63 out of 180 = 35%) of HNC patients. No significant difference of CCAA before and after RT was observed. There were also no differences between groups (with and without CCAA) regarding age, gender, tobacco and alcohol use, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, acute myocardial infarction, hypercholesterolemia, tumor location, clinical stage of disease and RT dose. However, there was a greater prevalence of strokes in patients with CCAA (p<0.05).ConclusionsAlthough CCAA were frequently found in panoramic radiographs of patients with HNC, RT seems not to alter the prevalence of these calcifications. Key words:Head and neck cancer, radiotherapy, carotid artery diseases, panoramic radiography.

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“…Existing literature provides varying results regarding the association between cancer stage and patient delay [12,14,[29][30][31][32]. Multiple studies on head and neck tumors show no correlation between patient delay and tumor size [12,32,33]. We chose to use both the UICC 7th and 8th editions in our analysis, because the new edition was released in the middle of our prospective data collection, and we wanted to be able to compare our results with the existing literature and review our data according to the newest classification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing patient and health care delays in Oropharyngeal Cancer

Nieminen

Atula

Bäck

et al. 2020

Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery

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Background: The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing. Patients with HPV-associated and HPV-unassociated OPSCC differ in many aspects, which may also impact their diagnostic and management timelines. This study aims at studying the patient, primary health care (PHC) and specialist-care (SC) delays and possible differences between these two patient groups in seeking medical care. Methods: We reviewed all new patients with OPSCC treated between 2016 and 2018 at our institute, which covers a referral area of 1.6 million people. We collected data on patients' symptoms and factors influencing why they sought medical care using a patient-reported questionnaire and hospital records. We compared delays based on patient and tumor characteristics. Results: In our study population of 83 patients, the median patient delay was 30 days (range, 0-366), with a median PHC delay of 15 days (range, 0 days-2.5 years), and a median SC delay of 54 days (range, 12-231). The SC delay was further divided into diagnostic hospital delay and treatment delay, each with a median length of 16 days (range, 0-237) and 29 days (range, 0-73), respectively. Furthermore, we found that p16 status did not associate with delays. A longer patient delay associated with specific tumor factors, such as a larger primary tumor and a lower UICC 7th edition stage. Patients that had multiple visits or did not have a follow-up visit scheduled at the initial appointment had longer PHC delays. Treatment delay was significantly longer for patients scheduled for (chemo-)radiotherapy than for those undergoing surgery with or without (chemo-)radiotherapy. Conclusions: Although delays remained short for the majority of OPSCC patients, long delays require further evaluation and improvement of management. Awareness of presenting symptoms among cancer risk patients and prompt referral practice or a follow-up visit at PHC represent key factors to shortening these delays. Ultimately, the causes for delays in SC appear multifactorial and require institutional quality control.

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Characteristics and medical-care-seeking of head and neck cancer patients: A population-based cross-sectional survey

Cited by 17 publications

References 21 publications

Causes for delay before specialist consultation in head and neck cancer

Causes for delay before specialist consultation in head and neck cancer

Calcified carotid artery atheromas on panoramic radiographs of head and neck cancer patients before and after radiotherapy

Factors influencing patient and health care delays in Oropharyngeal Cancer

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